Solar, Wind Beat Gas Power Stations in Parts of EU: BNEF Chart

Around Europe, new-build utility-scale solar and onshore wind are now becoming cost competitive with existing coal and gas-fired power plants.

According to BNEF analysis, the levelized cost of electricity, or LCOE, of a typical new-build solar plant in Spain and France stands at 30-33 euros/MWh, for onshore wind in Sweden and the U.K. this is between 29 and 34 euros/MWh. This is lower than the average costs of running an existing gas plant in 2020 at 34 euros/MWh, or coal plant at 50 euros/MWh.

The map indicates for each country the technology with the lowest LCOE for new-build solar and wind plants or short-run marginal costs for coal and gas-fired power plants. The running costs for coal and gas include the EU ETS carbon price.

BloombergNEF

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Tifenn Brandily at tbrandily@bloomberg.net

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